Blessing of the Pussy Willow Prayer Service

Part of the Palm Sunday celebrations in many Eastern European countries (including Ukrainian Orthodox religious celebrations), is to substitute the usual palm branches on Palm Sunday with pussy willow branches. This is because pussy willows bud very early in the spring, are symbolic of new life, and are plentiful while palm fronds are not readily available.

On March 18, IHMS held a blessing of the pussy willow prayer service in the school gym. Rev. Volodymyr Bashutskyy of Blessed Virgin Mary parish blessed the pussy willows in a short services, after which two grade 8 students distributed the branches to every student in the school.